Coloureds are too Incompetent to be Leaders, says DA Leader

In a report by IOL, it was revealed that the Democratic Alliance’s Swartland Municipality Mayor, Tijmen van Essen, recently declared that “coloured people are not competent to hold positions of leadership or office”.

This allegation is part of a letter of complaint written by Basil Stanley, the DA’s acting constituency chairperson of the DA in the Swartland.

The letter was sent to the DA provincial leader Bonginkozi Madikizela on the 17th of November, and asked for a motion of no confidence and disciplinary hearings to be held against van Essen.

The alleged racist incident had however taken place months earlier at a meeting in Moreesburg and at the time, Mr Stanley had already laid a complaint.

He had however chosen to withdraw the complaint in order to protect the DA against further embarrassment, given the litany of racism accusations levelled against it by its members.

His decision to address the matter once again came after facing ongoing intimidation for having exposed racism in the party’s regional structures.

It also became a concern to Mr Stanley when van Essen advised him to “refrain from registering black South Africans as members of the DA”.

Mr Stanley was also advised to refrain from certifying the proof of the addresses for black citizens because van Essen was concerned that ‘they will vote him out of his ward’.

When asked for comment, the DA’s Western Cape chairperson and Swartland Constituency Head, Anton Bredell, refused to comment, instead referring all queries to Madikizela.